Powerless
by jekyllhj7
Summary: Jack thinks about the events of Cyberwoman.


**A/N - I've gotten a little stuck with Chasing the Saturdays, so I decided to try to go in a different direction. Just to remind people that haven't read my other stuff, while a lot of my inspiration comes from music, I don't necessarily write song fics. I try to post the lyrics at the end so you can see where I'm coming from. **

**I actually made a video to this song about six months ago. You can see it here. Put the standard YouTube address then watch?v=XiBSSPe1nPQ **

**The video is Cyberwoman… so this story could kind of be a sequel to it. **

**Powerless**

Jack sat in his office going over the CCTV security footage for the last year. How had he missed it? How had supposedly mild mannered Ianto Jones managed to hide a cyberman inside the hub for so long?

_When did you last ask me anything about my life?_

Jack ran his hands over his face. That's how. Ianto had put himself in the forefront to get into Torchwood. He had purposely gotten in Jack's path… purposely gotten himself noticed. Even then Jack had tried to dismiss the young man.

_What am I supposed to do with these memories?_

He refocused his eyes on the screen and continued screening. He had to find what he had missed. He had to prove to himself… and Ianto, that he did care about his team – that none of them went unnoticed. There had to be something.

It became obvious after a while that someone, probably Ianto, had edited the security recordings, but Jack kept searching… anything to keep the sense of powerlessness at bay.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

He stood in the doorway of the basement room, telling himself he was only taking a break from reviewing the security footage. He had humanely suspended Ianto immediately. Owen had sedated the young man and taken him home. Both Owen and Tosh had been checking on him regularly and had reported back to Jack that although Ianto was understandably distraught, he was no danger to himself.

Knowing that the young man was recovering, Jack could still see him kneeling on the floor next to what was left of his girlfriend.

_You think you're a hero, but you're the biggest monster of them all._

Ianto was more correct with those words than he would (hopefully) ever know. Jack had been the cause of too much pain for too many people. He had promised when he took over Torchwood that he would make things different. He thought of his team. He told them all he cared… he had 'rescued' Tosh and Owen from horrible situations – telling them he would help. Was he really helping them, or was he just using them… just like Torchwood always had.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW 

Jack stood alone in the conference room. Gwen had gone back downstairs to do her own work. After clearing up the main hub area in silence, Ianto had retreated to the archives. Here he stood looking down on his team.

Ianto – so young but having lived through hurt and anguish that most of the world will never encounter in many decades of life.

Tosh - always so quiet, but all the time living in fear that UNIT would come to take her away again.

Owen – keeping the world at a safe distance instead of letting anyone in and getting hurt again.

Gwen – so eager, so innocent. How long until her world came crashing down.

He stepped away from the glass and turned away. He was their leader, yet he was powerless to protect them.

~End~

**A/N – Okay that turned out a little darker than I had planned. But I kind of like it. ****Questions, comments, etc are always welcome.**

**Powerless by Linkin Park**

**You hid you skeletons when I had shown you mine  
You woke the devil that I thought you'd left behind  
I saw the evidence, the crimson soaking through  
Ten thousand promises, then thousand ways to lose**

**And you held it all but you were careless to let it fall  
You held it all and I was by your side, powerless**

**I watched you fall apart and chased you to the end  
I'm left with emptiness that words cannot defend  
You'll never know what I became because of you  
Then thousand promises, ten thousand ways to lose**

**And you held it all but you were careless to let it fall  
You held it all and I was by your side, powerless  
And you held it all but you were careless to let it fall  
****You held it all and I was by your side, powerless**


End file.
